“I want to keep you from doing the things he did,” Morrison told the team before last season, referring to his brother. “I want to save you from that.”

While football provides an escape for many players, plenty of others still succumb to the challenges they face on a daily basis. A player who was expected to be the team’s starting quarterback stopped coming to practices, was suspended from school and was caught with pills.

“He could throw a ball with his left hand in a perfect spiral more than 30 yards farther than other guys would throw with their dominant hand,” James Lee, an assistant coach and a Madison police officer, told the Times. “There’s no doubt he could’ve played Division I — if he hadn’t melted down.”

On senior night this season, offensive lineman Chance Webster broke down in tears as he spoke to his teammates and coaches.

“For two years in a row, my sister tried killing herself,” he said. “Because of football, I was able to get through life when I was really down. I just want to thank you guys.”